Despite talk of halting Seattle’s First Avenue streetcar, work moves ahead on the $177M line

Construction on Seattle’s new First Avenue streetcar line is well underway and moves to stop the project have not materialized, despite blustery threats from City Council members.

Utility work along the line began about two weeks ago. A week before that, at a City Council budget hearing, council members expressed serious skepticism about streetcar expansion and indicated they’d like to see the city spend its dollars elsewhere.

“I’m interested in council members who are as motivated as I am to question our investments,” Councilmember Lisa Herbold, a longtime streetcar skeptic, said on Oct. 16, “and potentially look at other options for this funding.”

The $177 million project will run in its own lanes along First Avenue, linking Seattle’s two existing streetcar lines in South Lake Union and on First Hill.